Urge ROHTO to stop cruel animal testing for beauty products!

Rohto Pharmaceutical, best known in Japan and around the world for brands like Rohto eye drops, Sunplay sunscreen and LipIce lip balms, announced in December 2015 that they will continue to use animal testing for their cosmetic products, in a response to Cruelty Free Beauty, a campaign body run by three animal rights groups in Japan.Despite its name, Rohto Pharmaceuticals is actually a major cosmetics brand and was the third highest seller of cosmetics in Japan in 2014. In the same year, cosmetics made up 67% of their sales.Despite the fact that cosmetic animal testing is increasingly becoming banned around the world, thanks to strong consumer demands, Rohto Pharmaceuticals refused to participate in discussions with Cruelty Free Beauty on their future directions regarding cosmetic animal testing in September 2015. They later made clear their intention to continue pharmaceutical applications which require animal testing.Despite Japanese big brand companies like Shiseido and Kao already publicizing their ethical decision to stop animal testing -even if that meant abandoning developments for future new ingredients- Rohto Pharmaceuticals are choosing profit over ethics and proclaiming they will not abandon animal testing.But would consumers still choose to buy their products if they knew the truth about animal testing?

Animal testing for cosmetics include methods such as:

Shampoo ingredients dripped into the eyes of rabbits.

Lipstick ingredients force fed to mice.

Sunblock ingredients rubbed onto the backs of guinea pigs, which are then covered with tin foil and continuously exposed under a UV-ray lamp.

These are merely a small number of examples of animal testing that torture and eventually kill animals, never giving a chance to regain their health.Rohto Pharmaceuticals continues to ignore the fact that abandoning animal testing for cosmetics is becoming the new global standard. Please raise your voice and help us get through to them, demanding the immediate abandonment of cosmetics and (quasi-drugs) cosmeceutical products!

【Trends in Animal Testing for Cosmetics In Japan and Globally】 The European Union passes a law which completely bans animal testing for cosmetic products on March 11, 2013 EU.Israel and India passes similar bans within the same year.Shiseido makes a decision to stop animal testing for cosmetic and quasi-drug products in February 2013.Banned in the State of São Paulo, Brazil in 2014.In 2015, a bill to ban cosmetics animal testing is put on the United States Congress agenda. In March that year, the Kao Group announces they are stopping animal testing.Since 2013, Japanese companies such as Kose, Noevier, Menard Japan Cosmetics and Pola Orbis Holdings have abandoned cosmetic animal testing.

Rohto Pharmaceuticals are known for their eye drops and gastrointestinal drugs, but also produce skincare and makeup products as well as male cosmetics. They may sound like a drug company, but they actually make huge profits from their various cosmetics brands. Please join us for a boycott of Rohto Pharmaceuticals cosmetics until they abandon animal testing!!